Statement from the Feminist Majority Foundation and the National Organization for Women (NOW) Foundation:

The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), the National Organization for Women (NOW) Foundation, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Women’s Law Project filed an amicus brief in the June Medical Services v. Gee case that will be heard March 4, 2020 by the Supreme Court, opposing Louisiana’s law that requires doctors who provide abortion care to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The brief details how anti-abortion extremist violence, threats, and harassment adversely impact hospital decisions on granting admitting privileges.

“If the admitting privileges law is upheld, women in Louisiana could be left without a single abortion provider,” explained Katherine Spillar, executive director of Feminist Majority Foundation, who for 32 years has overseen the organization’s work with abortion providers across the country to counter extremist violence. “Due to the fear of anti-abortion violence and harassment, hospitals can and do deny hospital admitting privileges to abortion providers,” continued Spillar. “Nearly 1 in 4 abortion providers experienced severe violence and threats of violence in 2018, and 52% experienced targeted intimidation and threats against doctors and staff, according to our nationwide survey of U.S. abortion clinics.”

“This is not an abstract concept,” Spillar concluded. “I have seen first hand how anti-abortion extremists isolate and stalk doctors and clinic staff, plaster their faces, names and home addresses on WANTED posters, publish ‘justifiable homicide’ lists – all with the goal of creating a climate of terror. And these same extremists have targeted hospitals, with the result being the denial or revocation of admitting privileges for abortion providers.”

“The National Organization for Women (NOW) Foundation has a long history defending abortion rights before the Supreme Court. NOW seeks to end violent acts against reproductive health providers and clinics including murder, arson, bombing and stalking,” said NOW Foundation President Toni Van Pelt. “This amicus brief clearly documents how the national climate of violence and fear facing abortion health care providers has a chilling effect that undermines women’s constitutional right to abortion care. We will not let the violent forces of extremism shred Roe v. Wade state by state, clinic by shuttered clinic. Women’s lives depend on our success.”

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

Media Statement the National Organization for Women:

PHOENIX, Ariz. – White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller, a key architect of President Trump’s inhumane immigration policies, is making headlines as leaked emails show he allegedly circulated material linked to white nationalism. This is the man who has promoted some of Trump’s most hard-line actions, including locking away immigrant women and girls in inhumane and immoral detention facilities in Arizona and around the nation.  

Those fleeing to the U.S. are often seeking refuge from sexual violence, assault and poverty and they deserve a fair and humane immigration process. If they are to be held in these prisons, at a minimum, we have an obligation to give them access to vital human needs such as reproductive health care, feminine hygiene products and mental health care, among other provisions. They must also be free from physical and sexual abuse, strip searches by guards, invasive personal and intimate questioning and tracking of their periods by U.S. government officials. 

This is why the National Organization for Women (NOW) and RAICES, in collaboration with our coalition partners listed below, are hosting an “Unlock the Future” campaign rally in Phoenix.  

Who: Joining NOW President Toni Van Pelt will be: 

• State Senator Victoria Steele, Representative for the 9th District of Arizona 
• Erika Andiola, Chief of Advocacy, RAICES 
• Imelda Omega, Latin Therapists Action Network
• Alejandra Pablos, Reproductive Justice Activist, Immigration Detention Survivor; and
• Additional Speakers to be Announced

What: “Unlock the Future” Rally to demand humane treatment for the women and girls held in immoral immigration prisons. 

Where:  Rose Garden by the Arizona State Capitol, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix, Ariz.  85007 

When: Sunday, Dec. 8th, 2019; 12:00pm Mountain. 
 

More information: Visit our website, sign our Bill of Rights,see our hashtag #Unlock the Future and RSVP for the rally at our Facebook Event Page.  

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For a list of Unlock the Future Co-Sponsors please click here. 

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two years. That’s roughly how long it takes for Latina women to earn what White, non-Hispanic men earn in just one.  

In the time since the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963 – fifty-six years ago – Latina women have made only twenty-eight years’ worth of the wages they’ve earned. Reporting at almost half the amount of White men and at only 86 percent to that of Latino men, Latinas are the victims of the largest pay deficit between sexes.  

What does that deficit look like? It looks like Latinas being most likely to experience economic instability. It looks like one third of the households headed by Latinas living in poverty. It looks like women and nonbinary people worrying about how to care for elderly relatives. It is an unacceptable number, and a reminder of the patriarchal and racist systems put in place to hurt women. 

Today, on Latina Equal Pay Day, we not only call out employers and our nation’s leaders on their neglect and bigotry, but we remind feminists to hold ourselves accountable. It’s our mission as feminists to bring to light these inequities and advocate for pay equality for all. 

NOW stands in full solidarity with our Latina members and allies today and every day, paying special attention to their unique experiences as we advocate for changes and legislation that will ensure economic, political, and social equality.  

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745